TEL AVIV. Two dead and over 130 injured were transported to hospital due to the collapse of a tribune in the synagogue of Givat Ze’ev, inside a settlement in the West Bank not far from Jerusalem. The incident, which occurred on the day of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, comes just weeks after 45 people were killed in a similar collapse at a shrine on Mount Meron in northern Israel. A video posted on Twitter shows the Givat Ze’ev synagogue crowded with people and a staircase that suddenly collapses. There were over 600 faithful inside the place of worship when the tribune collapsed. The area, police explained, was evacuated and an investigation was opened.
Health sources reported that 5 of the 132 injured are in serious condition and eight in moderate conditions, while all the others are slightly injured. The Israeli media published documents showing that the police and the city council of Givat Ze’ev had tried to ban ceremonies inside the synagogue, precisely because of the risk that the structure represented, but did not agree on who should to do it. The synagogue had not been completed and did not yet have the authorizations to be used. The papers show that the police had warned the municipal assembly of the risk of an accident. However, when the latter asked the police to intervene to close it, the police themselves replied that it was up to the municipal assembly to do so.